One type of tracked vehicle is a snow groomer, sometimes referred to as a “piste basher”, which carries snow-grooming equipment, such as a blade and a tiller, to groom snow (e.g., move, flatten, till, compact, and/or otherwise manipulate snow) in order to maintain ski hills, cross country ski trails, snowmobile trails, and/or other snowed areas.
An operator of a snow groomer must be able to adequately gauge an environment he/she is working in such that, for example, a quality of work done by the snow groomer can be observed and safety of the operator and any other individuals (e.g., skiers) around the snow groomer is maintained. This often poses a challenge for the operator as a clear view of his/her surroundings is not always possible or constant and is often dependent on outside factors not controlled by the operator. For example, when grooming a half-pipe, the operator may have difficulty viewing the quality of work done at a top of the half-pipe. In order to get a good look, the operator may have to shift considerably in his/her seat and even perhaps get out of the snow groomer's cabin. Consequently, this may slow down the grooming operation, make the operator strain trying to get a better line of sight, and even risk the safety of the operator and/or others by leaving the cabin of the snow groomer.
Furthermore, the tiller of the snow groomer may pose its own challenges. For instance, as the operator drives the snow groomer with the tiller engaged to the ground, uneven terrain can cause deviations of the tiller and thus unequal performance at different portions of the tiller. Additionally, it is not uncommon to see cutting depth fluctuations across a lateral extent of the tiller and poor following of the tiller when engaging curves. Another challenge that may be found is that of friction applied to a mat of the tiller. The mat is dragged over the snow and thus is subject to a great deal of friction on its underside. This may result in rapid wear of the mat and thus maintenance costs to replace the mat and/or less than optimal grooming. Also, a rotor of the tiller may have a propensity to wear as its teeth dig into snow and sometimes ice in order to provide a tilling function of the snow groomer.
Challenges similar to those discussed above in respect of a snow groomer may be encountered in other types of industrial tracked vehicles.
Accordingly, there may be room for improvements in snow groomers and other tracked vehicles.